Advocacy

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Published on Thursday, December 17, 2015

Liquor and Cannabis Board adopts new limits on retail stores

The Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) met on December 16 to adopt new rules to implement SB 5052, the Cannabis Patient Protection Act, passed by the Legislature in 2015. Under the new rules, the LCB established new limits on the number of retail stores they will license. Currently, the LCB has a limit of 334 retail recreational stores. The LCB has added 222 retail stores with medical endorsements to bring the new total number of allowable stores to 556 across the state. The LCB has again allocated the new stores across counties and cities. The LCB looked at the most populous counties in the state and doubled the number of stores in those jurisdictions. For less populous areas it increased the number by 75%. However, the LCB is also recognizing local bans and moratoria and has not increased the stores allocated to those communities with bans or moratoria in place.

The next disbursement of marijuana revenue sharing will occur at the end of December for those communities eligible to receive funding. Cities that established recreational marijuana retailers in FY 2014 are eligible for distributions. If you think your city should have received a distribution in September and did not, or you think the distribution amount was wrong, please contact Aaron Hanson at the Liquor and Cannabis Board for further clarification. For a more detailed explanation of the new distribution policy see here.